by Bill Heaney
John Swinney must take responsibility for the ferry fiasco, Scottish Labour has said, as new analysis reveals 20,000 cancellations have been caused by issues with ferries and ports since 2023.
The SNP leader is expected to get the ferry to Stornoway today, amid an “unprecedented” crisis on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services.
In recent weeks islanders have faced rampant cancellations and significantly reduced services due to ferry breakdowns and repairs, with the Glen Sannox breaking down again on the eve of John Swinney’s visit to the Western Isles.
New analysis by Scottish Labour has revealed that more than 20,000 ferry sailings on these routes have been cancelled in under three years for reasons other than bad weather.
Between 2023 and 2025, a staggering 37,855 sailings were cancelled on CalMac services in total.
Of these, 16,331 were cancelled due to “technical” reasons and a further 4,600 were cancelled for “other” reasons, which include issues with ports. The remaining cancellations were weather-related.
Scottish Labour accused John Swinney and the SNP of letting islanders down and pledged to end the ferry fiasco at last.
Scottish Labour Transport spokesperson Daniel Johnson said: “When John Swinney arrives in the Western Isles, the first thing he should do is apologise directly to the islanders his government has let down and take responsibility for this crisis.
“Scotland’s islands have been paying the price for SNP mismanagement and neglect for too long.
“The SNP’s ferry fiasco means families have been kept apart, interviews, life events and medical appointments have been missed, and businesses have failed.
“John Swinney and the SNP seem to be too arrogant and out of touch to understand the damage they are doing to island lives and livelihoods.
“Our islands need change, and Scottish Labour is ready to step up where the SNP has failed and fix the SNP’s ferry crisis.
“We will fix the SNP’s broken system and deliver ferries for islanders, value for taxpayers, jobs for shipyard workers and political accountability for Scotland.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, right, has today said that John Swinney should be on the phone begging the UK Government and ferry operators around Europe for extra boats to alleviate the ferry crisis.
His call comes as ferry operator CalMac announced that almost a third of its entire fleet is unavailable due to unplanned problems or planned maintenance.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “I repeatedly asked for Parliament to be recalled so ministers could give a proper response to the ferry crisis. Unfortunately, coastal and island communities do not matter to the SNP, so ministers said no.
“This situation is beyond a joke. Right now, islanders waiting for medical care are trapped on their islands. Businesses are seeing their shelves lie empty. Tourists are being turned away.
“The government should be pulling every lever to help them out, including encouraging anyone with suitable vessels to chip in and get folk on and off our islands. We need a Dunkirk-style effort
“Rather than posing with SNP activists, John Swinney needs to get on the phone to the UK Government and European partners to ask them whether there are ferries available elsewhere in the UK or in nearby countries which might be able to take up some of the slack on Scottish routes.
“At the moment, their solution seems to be robbing Peter to pay Paul by shuffling Scotland’s ferries around without addressing the underlying shortage.
“Firms like Red Funnel, Condor, Wightlink and Steam Packet all run domestic services in the UK. John Swinney should be begging them to deliver a Dunkirk-style flotilla and help get our islands open.
“Finally, I would like to thank the ferry crew and shipyard workers who are desperately trying to fix these boats. They have been let down by SNP ministers and transport bosses almost as badly as islanders have been, and I think it’s important to thank them for their work trying to keep lifeline routes afloat at this difficult time.”
ENDS
CalMac ferry cancellations by cause:
|
Cancelled |
Weather Cancellations |
Technical Cancellations |
Other Cancellations |
Total non-weather |
|
|
2023 |
12108 |
4997 |
4485 |
2626 |
7111 |
|
2024 |
12100 |
6714 |
4475 |
911 |
5386 |
|
2025* |
13647 |
5213 |
7371 |
1063 |
8434 |
|
Total |
37855 |
16924 |
16331 |
4600 |
20931 |
*year to November.
Source: Scottish Labour FOI
“Other” refers to any cancellations not resulting from weather and technical disruption. This includes cancellations due to reasons such as bunkering issues, berth unavailability, etc.: https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/wrijvcxz/argyll.pdf
The Glen Sannox broke down on Monday, a week after it returned to service and days before it was due to be redeployed to cover a key link between the Western Isles and the mainland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg54174pqjmo
Almost a third of CalMac’s ferry fleet out of action: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg54174pqjmo
Scottish Labour has pledged to:
- Deal with the cluttered and confused governance structures that allow SNP Ministers to dodge responsibility by merging CalMac and CMAL into a new publicly-owned ferry agency.
- Give islanders a real voice in the system by guaranteeing local representation on the board of the new agency.
- Introduce a new ferry procurement process to end the SNP’s chaotic ad hoc approach to replacing ageing vessels.
- Deliver greater standardisation of the ships procured and put in place a rolling programme to continually modernise the fleet.
- Work with Scotland’s iconic shipbuilding industry to secure jobs and investment and deliver the ferries island communities need.